Guzmania are predominantly epiphytic with a few terrestrial species and are native to the tropics. For the most part species vary in diameter from 7 or 8 inches to 3 or 4 feet and have rosettes of glossy, smooth edged leaves.
Floral bracts of Guzmania frequently have brilliant colors and may last for many months. The range of colors for Guzmania is generally from yellow through orange but may also include flame red and red-purple. White or yellow, tubular, three petalled flowers may also appear on a stem or within the leaf rosette but are usually short lived.
Guzmania may be advantageously grown as pot plants for greenhouse or home use. Desirably the plants are shaded from direct sunlight and during the spring to autumn period the central vase-like part of the leaf rosette is desirably filled with water.
Guzmania is native to tropical America. Leaves of Guzmania are usually formed as basal rosettes which are stiff and entire and in several vertical ranks. Guzmania have terminal spikes or panicles which are often bracted with petals united in a tube about as long as the calyx. The ovary is superior and the seeds plumose.
Asexual propagation of Guzmania is frequently done through the use of tissue culture practices. Propagation can also be from off-shoots produced by the plant which may then be rooted. The resulting plantlets are detached from the mother plant and may be potted up in a suitable growing mixture.
Methods for cultivation and breeding of Guzmania are well known. For a detailed discussion, reference is made to the following publications, which are incorporated herein by reference. Benzing, David H., The Biology of the Bromeliads, Mad River Press, Inc., Eureka (1980); Zimmer, Karl, Bromelien, Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin (1986); and Rauh, Werner, Bromelien, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (1981).
The new cultivar `Ambiance` is a product of a planned breeding program and was originated by the inventors from a cross made during such a program in Assendelft, The Netherlands, in 1982. The male or pollen parent was a selection of a mutation of Guzmania butcherii identified by Code No. 828902. The female or seed parent was a selection of Guzmania wittmackii identified by Code No. 828901.
The selection comprising the new variety was chosen from among the progeny of the above cross following commencement of flowering in 1985 in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The selection was first asexually propagated through off-shoots by, or under the supervision of, the inventors in Assendelft, with subsequent asexual reproduction through tissue culture in 1987. The plants propagated through the use of tissue-culture flowered in 1996. Continuous asexual propagation has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar `Ambiance`, as observed in Assendelft, the Netherlands, are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
`Ambiance` has not been tested under all available environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environmental conditions such as temperature, light intensity, frequency of fertilization, composition of fertilizer, acetylene treatment, day length and humidity without, however, any change in the genotype of the new cultivar.
The closest comparison cultivar is Guzmania wittmackii `Lilac`. The most important difference with Guzmania wittmackii `Lilac` is the shape of the leaves and bracts. Overall, `Ambiance` has a more compact growth habit, with the leaves and bracts more erect than `Lilac`.